Page 12 of A Curvy Wonderland

But Bob must have picked up on my inner turmoil because he came over and laid his fluffy head in my lap, looking up at me with doe-brown eyes.

I let out an amused breath through my nose and scratched his ears.

Holly glanced over and said, “Everything okay?”

I nodded, and then told Bob to go mingle before continuing a line of frosting along the crumbling edge of the cracker.

For the next hour or so, the five of us built the gingerbread houses, chatting about nothing at all. No sooner than the houses were built, did the girls begin eating theirs, starting with the sugar crusted gumdrops on top. They encouraged Clifford to do the same, but he said, “My blood sugar would not thank me for that.”

“There's sugar in your blood?” Lucy asked around a mouthful of sweets.

Tatum nodded, sagely saying, “I read it in my human body book. It's how we get energy.”

Clifford pointed at Tatum, happily saying, “You are a smart young girl.” Then he explained to Lucy, “You have to have just the right amount of energy–not too high, not too low.”

Marco approached then, saying, “Your gingerbread houses look lovely.” He frowned a little at mine. “Yours looks like there was a snowstorm or something.”

Holly laughed under her breath.

“Don't laugh at me,” I said, my neck getting hot. “It's been a while.”And I was a little distracted, I didn't say, because then they would ask why.

Clifford chuckled deeply. “Don't worry son, you can always come back and practice.”

I shook my head. I didn’t think I would be doing that anytime soon, but I kept my mouth shut, if only for Holly's sake.

Marco said, “The cooks are telling me it’s time for lunch–are you ready, Cliff?”

“One second.” He pulled two small boxes from his pockets. “I got you girls something.”

Their eyes lit up. And Lucy said. “Presents?”

Clifford nodded. He handed one to each of the girls, and they opened it up, finding a necklace inside with a snowflake pendant.

Tatum looked up at him and said, “You got these for us? It's so pretty.”

He winked and said, “They're from Santa. Be sure to write a thank-you note to the North Pole.”

“Thank you,” Tatum said.

“Thank you,” Lucy echoed.

He smiled and said, “Thank you for making this the best day. I appreciate you all more than you know.”

Eldan gathered Bob and leashed him up. Then we all said goodbye, and as we were walking out of the building, Holly's stomach growled loudly. She giggled, patting her midsection. “Guess it's time for lunch.”

Tatum said, “Can we go to Scrooge’s Diner?”

Holly put her hand on Tatum’s shoulder. “Your mom gave us some lunch money, so that's fine with me. Then she turned her gaze to me, adding, “Want to get some lunch?”

I thought about saying no, but then she added, “It’s Scrooge’s Diner. No Christmas inside.”

So I surprised myself by saying, “Okay.”

7

HOLLY

Iwas completely stunned when Eldan agreed to go with us to Scrooge’s Diner, but then again, maybe I shouldn't have been. It was probably his favorite place in Garland. The one place that hated Christmas as much as he did.

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